KATHMANDU, Jan 21: More than 343,000 individuals received work permits from the government for foreign employment in the first half of the current fiscal year.

According to the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), the figure was 71,000 less compared to the work permit issued by the government in the same period last year. During mid-July and mid-January of 2022/23, a total of 414,000 Nepalis received permits from the government for foreign employment.

Kabi Raj Upreti, information officer of the DoFE, said 65,813 Nepalis took permits for foreign employment just in one month between mid-December and mid-January. This included both the new permits and renewal of work permits for foreign companies.

Most of them were bound for the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Out of those who received permits last month, around 16,000 individuals sought jobs in the UAE, 14,000 each in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, 8,000 individuals in Malaysia, 3,000 individuals in Kuwait and 1,000 in South Korea.

Since the past few years, Nepal has been witnessing a massive brain drain of the youths from the country in the search of jobs abroad. A staggering number of more than 771,000 young individuals ventured abroad for foreign employment in the fiscal year 2022/23. More than 600,000 individuals pursued foreign jobs in the year following the pandemic.

According to the DoFE records, nearly all migrant workers from Nepal fall within the economically productive age group of 18 to 44 years. Over the past three years, half of these migrant workers were between the ages of 25 and 34 years old.

 
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